Report: Windows 10 upgrade may turn retail OS into OEM version
Microsoft's free upgrade offer to Windows 10 stands until July 2016. Customers who work on genuine Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 systems may upgrade those systems to Microsoft's newest operating system Windows 10 free of charge.
It does not matter whether the source operating system is an OEM or Retail version, as both upgrade just fine to the new OS.
Retail versions offer the advantage that they allow you to change hardware of the PC without losing your license. The operating system will either activate automatically after the hardware swap or after contacting Microsoft.
OEM versions on the other hand allow only some hardware changes, say an increase in RAM, but not major replacements like a new motherboard.
A report on the German tech news site Ht4u suggests that the free upgrade to Windows 10 will turn retail licenses into OEM licenses that are linked to the machine.
I tried to verify this by checking the status of a retail system that I upgraded to Windows 10, but at least for the moment, it shows as a retail copy.
The only explanations I have for this is that there was some sort of miscommunication between the magazine and Microsoft, or that retail is shown during the "free upgrade" period only.
If we accept the information as true for a moment, it would mean that Windows 10 users who upgraded from Windows 7 or 8.1 would not be able to upgrade core hardware of the computer after July 2016 regardless of whether they have upgraded from a retail or OEM version of the OS as their copy of Windows 10 would be an OEM copy effectively.
Previously revealed information, on Win Super Site for instance, claim the opposite. According to the information there, retail licenses upgraded to Windows 10 remain a retail license, and can be moved to a new computer (which also means that hardware changes are okay). This falls in line with the fact that retail versions show up as retail when you check them after the upgrade to Windows 10.
Check your system
You can verify the activation and license state, as well as the version of your operating system in the following way:
- Tap on the Windows-key, type cmd.exe, hold down Shift and Ctrl, and hit the Enter-key.
- Confirm the UAC prompt.
- Run the command slmgr.vbs -dli
- A window appears on the screen after a moment that lists the information.
Closing Words
Microsoft revealed previously that it has no intention to prolong the free upgrade offer after its first year but provided little information on its plans to go forward.
What mental age of reader are you targeting with the first sentence? 10?
Why not write an article on how to *avoid* upgrading from W10 to W11. Analogous to those like me who avoided upgrading from 7 to 10 for as long as possible.
If your paymaster Microsoft permits it, of course.
5. Rufus
6. Ventoy
PS. I hate reading these “SEO optimized” articles.
I used Rufus to create an installer for a 6th gen intel i5 that had MBR. It upgraded using Setup. No issues except for Win 11 always prompting me to replace my local account. Still using Win 10 Pro on all my other PCs to avoid the bullying.
bit pointless to upgrade for the sake of upgrading as you never know when you’ll get locked out because ms might suddenly not provide updates to unsupported systems.
ps…. time travelling?
written. Jan 15, 2023
Updated • Jan 13, 2023
This happens when you schedule a post in WordPress and update it before setting the publication date.
Anyone willing to downgrade to this awful OS must like inflicting themselves with harm.
I have become convinced now that anybody who has no qualms with using Windows 11/10 must fit into one of the following brackets:
1) Too young to remember a time before W10 and W11 (doesn’t know better)
2) Wants to play the latest games on their PC above anything else (or deeply needs some software which already dropped W7 support)
3) Doesn’t know too much about how computers work, worried that they’d be absolutely lost and in trouble without the “”latest security””
4) Microsoft apologist that tries to justify that the latest “features” and “changes” are actually a good thing, that improve Windows
5) Uses their computer to do a bare minimum of like 3 different things, browse web, check emails, etc, so really doesn’t fuss
Obviously that doesn’t cover everyone, there’s also the category that:
6) Actually liked W7 more than 10, and held out as long as possible before switching, begrudgingly uses 10 now
Have I missed any group off this list?
You have missed in this group just about any professional user that uses business software like CAD programs or ERP Programs which are 99% of all professional users from this list.
Linux doesn’t help anyone who is not a linux kid and apple is just a fancy facebook machine.
Microsoft has removed KB5029351 update
only from windows update though
KB5029351 is still available from the ms update catalog site
1. This update is labaled as PREVIEW if it causes issues to unintelligent people, then they shouldn’t have allowed Preview updates ot install.
2. I have installed it in a 11 years old computer, and no problems at all.
3. Making a big drama over a bluescreen for an updated labeled as preview is ridiculous.
This is probably another BS internet drama where people ran programs and scripts that modified the registry until they broke Windows, just for removing stuff that they weren’t even using just for the sake of it.
Maybe people should stop playing geeks and actually either use Windows 10 or Windows 11, but don’t try to modify things just for the sake of it.
Sometimes removing or stopping things (like defender is a perfect example) only need intelligence, not scripts or 3rd party programs that might mess with windows.
Windows 11 was a pointless release, it was just created because some of the Windows team wanted to boost sales with some sort of new and improved Windows 10. Instead, Microsoft cannot support one version well let alone two.
Windows 11 is the worst ugly shame by Microsoft ever. They should release with every new W11 version a complete free version of Starallback inside just to make this sh** OS functionally again.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released a statement regarding the “unsupported processor” blue screen error for their boards using Intel 600/700 series chipsets & to avoid the KB5029351 Win11 update:
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/MSI-On–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–Error-Message-of-Windows-11-Update-KB5029351-Preview-142215
check out the following recent articles:
Neowin – Microsoft puts little blame on its Windows update after UNSUPPORTED PROCESSOR BSOD bug:
https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-puts-little-blame-on-its-windows-update-after-unsupported-processor-bsod-bug/
BleepingComputer – Microsoft blames ‘unsupported processor’ blue screens on OEM vendors:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-blames-unsupported-processor-blue-screens-on-oem-vendors/
While there may be changes or updates to the Windows 10 Store for Business and Education in the future, it is premature to conclude that it will be discontinued based solely on rumors.
My advice, I left win 15 years ago. Now I’m a happy linux user (linuxmint) but there is Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu depending on your needs.
motherboard maker MSI has recently released new BIOS/firmware updates for their Intel 600 & 700 series motherboards to fix the “UNSUPPORTED_PROCESSOR” problem (Sept. 6):
https://www.msi.com/news/detail/Updated-BIOS-fixes-Error-Message–UNSUPPORTED-PROCESSOR–caused-BSOD-on-MSI-s-Intel-700-and-600-Series-Motherboards-142277